Norwalk beats Stamford, advancing to the Class LL boys soccer final

Published 3:42 pm, Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The seniors on the Norwalk High School boys soccer team feel they are not being arrogant in their belief that they have had the premier program in the state during their tenure.

But outside of sharing the FCIAC title two weeks ago, the Bears are cognizant they have little supportive evidence to their claim.

"A lot of these guys have been with the program for three or four years and they didn't want another season to end up short of their goal," Norwalk coach Chris Laughton said.

Despite missing one of their star players, and against a familiar but surging opponent looking to continue a storybook run, the Bears took advantage of two goals by Kevin Joslyn to gut out a 2-1 win over Stamford last Friday night in the CIAC Class LL semifinals at Dunning Field.

The top-seeded Bears (20-1-1) reached the final for the first time since 2004 and will meet Fairfield Prep at 10:30 a.m. this morning at New Canaan High School for the chance to win just the program's second state crown in the sport. The first took place in 1966.

"For me as a coach, I didn't feel the pressure," Laughton said. "A lot of people doubted them, doubted us, in the postseason."

Joslyn helped silence the skeptics with a pair of similar goals started on plays attacking over the top of the Black Knights' defense.

"We've had a lot of grinding wins the last couple of games and that's what this has come down to," said Joslyn. "Just another day at the office."

Since opening the tournament with a 5-1 victory over Hamden, the Bears have won three successive one-goal games, answering the perception they grow frustrated when not dominating.

"The past three years, on paper, we win every game," Joslyn said. "This team has the skill and also the hard work to go with it."

Norwalk, stuck in neutral early, needed that persistence against a Stamford team that came into the state playoffs seeded 12th, and then ran off three straight wins to reach the semifinal round for the first time in coach Mario Caminiti's 30-plus years with the program.

Though Caminiti said in their own way the Black Knights also felt they had something to prove, their play in the semifinals only enhanced the added respect earned this postseason.

"We're not afraid of them," Caminiti said of the Bears. "We respect them, but we're not afraid of them. We felt we needed to beat Norwalk to finally change some people's minds."

After some tentative early play by both sides, the Bears took a lead in the 30th minute. Jose Canahui chipped a ball over the Black Knights' back line, onto the feet of Joslyn. As Stamford goalkeeper Ron Andre came off his line, Joslyn struck a a high arcing shot that bounced into the back of the net.

Stamford equalized in the 37th minute, when Anderson Moise's shot was blocked by the Norwalk defense and the ball came out to Steven Lopez, who finished into the corner of the goal.

"We knew people didn't believe in us, even with the run we had in the tournament," Caminiti said.

The Bears seemed to have trouble adjusting to the absence of Nacho Navarro, their creative catalyst, who sustained a pulled hamstring in the team's quarterfinal win over Newtown.

"We really had one day to train without having him," Laughton said. "These guys are good enough and smart enough that the next player fills the void. We get contributions from so many different players, not just the starting 11."